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Overview

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller 10% Happier—this book will get you to meditate! With the same humor, candor, and practical advice that made him one of the freshest, most inspiring voices to come along in years, ABC News anchor Dan Harris now debunks all the myths, misconceptions, and self-deceptions that keep you from meditating so you’ll quit procrastinating and get your butt on the cushion.

Interested in meditation, but allergic to woo-woo? Dan Harris used to think that meditation was for people who drank kombucha, played ultimate frisbee, listened to Enya, and used the word “namaste” without irony. Then he had a full-blown panic attack on live television (five million views on YouTube!) and on his way to sanity, discovered meditation for himself and became a convert. His memoir about this experience, 10% Happier, became a #1 bestseller and made readers (fidgety skeptics like himself) curious about meditating. But then . . . in his travels, Dan encountered a lot of people who said they wanted to meditate, but couldn’t quiet their mind, didn’t have time, felt weird and culty doing it, etc. So he set out on a cross-country trek with Jeffrey Warren, a master meditation teacher (a “Meditation MacGyver”), to get to the root of the problem. The result is a book that, with irony and insight, confronts and dismantles all the reasons you’re not meditating—and provides a range of meditation practices that meet you where you are in your life and offer you the chance to become 10% happier, for real.

Editorial Reviews

10/16/2017Harris (10% Happier), an ABC Nightline coanchor, teams up with Warren, a meditation teacher, in this entertaining and useful guide for the beginning meditator. Following Harris’s on-air panic attack in 2004, he embarked on a quest for an effective antianxiety cure, eventually hitting on meditation due to the studies testifying to its effectiveness and his realization that there is nothing “weird” about mindfulness meditation, a “simple, secular exercise for your brain.” This book offers a number of carefully crafted meditation practices explained in detail by Warren (such as the “Walking Meditation” and the “Giving a Shit About Yourself Meditation”). Harris’s first-person narrative also follows him and Warren on the 11-day cross-country 10% Happier Meditation Tour as they pay calls on folks who might particularly benefit from a crash course in mindfulness (e.g., former prison inmates, cops, military trainees). Throughout, Harris also ponders the nature and value of meditation, sharing with readers, among other things, his fear of losing his edge at his highly competitive job. Meditation newbies will particularly benefit from the topics covered: how to find time, how to sit, how to overcome self-judgment, and other FAQs about the powerful, life-changing practice the authors strive to unpack and promote in this clever guide. Agent: Luke Janklow, Janklow & Nesbit. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

If you’re intrigued by meditation but don’t know how to begin—or you’ve benefited from meditation in the past but need help to get started again, Dan Harris has written the book for you. Well researched, practical, and crammed with expert advice, it’s also an irreverent, hilarious page-turner.”—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

“The ABC News anchor, a ‘defender of worrying’ who once had an anxiety attack on air, offers a hilarious and stirring account of his two-steps-forward-one-step-back campaign to sort ‘useless rumination’ from ‘constructive anguish’ via mindfulness, along with invaluable suggestions for following in his footsteps.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“If your mind has a mind of its own, this is the book for you! With humor, generosity, and devastating candor, Dan Harris makes meditation make sense. This is news we can all use.”—Mark Epstein, MD, author of Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself and Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart

“Part romp, part travelogue, part meditation manual, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics takes us along for the journey as Dan Harris and meditation teacher Jeff Warren traverse the country. We discover meditating police officers, moms, media figures, and the meditator on the street (literally, as they open a pop-up meditation booth). Dan discovers some things about himself as well. This book is fun, instructive, timely, and immensely helpful.”—Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness and Real Love

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-to Book 4.5 out of 5based on
0 ratings.
4 reviews.

TheGrumpyBookReviewer

More than 1 year ago

This is definitely the book for anyone who wants to learn to meditate, but doesn't believe they can do it. This new book by bestselling author Dan Harris, with Jeff Warren and Carlye Adler, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, share their experiences on a cross-country trip teaching meditation techniques to anyone who wants to learn, especially skeptics.
It's written in a conversational, sometimes self-deprecating manner with a hefty dose of humor, but reminds us seriously that our minds are trainable. Harris insists that beginning with as little as 5 or 10 minutes per day is just fine, and that problems staying focused are common to all of us. Focus comes with time.
The book has lots of FAQs, and plenty of easy to follow instructions. This is a fun book that I really enjoyed. I think you will, too.

WisReader

More than 1 year ago

Like many of us meditate, I began reading book and then set it aside to focus on other duties and obligations. Fans of Dan Harris' media presence (especially those of us who invite him into our homes each weekend) will enjoy his thoughts and efforts to encourage others to give meditation a try. I enjoyed this book better than his first one.
It did take a team to write this book. There are many examples of ways to meditate and how it is benefited an assortment of persons and personalities. The book covers medical benefits, reduction in worries, lowered anxiety, increased happiness and gratitude plus more. It tackles the question of usefulness.
I enjoyed hearing about the promotional bus tour and stops made to teach audiences (and unsuspecting passers by) about meditation and Dan's book. Jeff is the guru, Dan the word scholar (geek.) The book has amusing, entertaining moments and passages. And honesty. I would have liked to read the acknowledgements and mentions but they were nearly as long as the book.
Do not take offense over what Dan says about Schnauzers. We can appreciate he is a cat fancier.
Clowder of cats, colony of bats, murder of crows, richness of ravens, tidings of magpies... just remind yourself that when you catch your mind wandering, return it to its upright position and begin again.

Cahansen64

More than 1 year ago

This book did something I didn't anticipate from the outset, it changed my view on meditation. The "fidgety skeptics" in the title fits me perfectly: I'm very skeptical but I also know that when things are not right, then things need to change or at least be reconsidered. The book made me willing to do both. I have seen the recommendations of the health benefits of meditation and even had colleagues and friends swear by it. Yet, I wasn't moved to try it. I am now.
The book is funny, has an easy tone and you can easily imagine the authors, the journalist from ABC and his meditation guide tell the reader how to go about it. The concept of starting with one minute rather than committing to half an hour or so appeals to me. It seems manageable. Now, of course, I just have to get started and be consistent with it.. That start is today. I want not only to be 10% happier, but also have more inner peace and joy as well as enjoying the health benefits of meditation.

TheThoughtSpot

More than 1 year ago

Wonderfully informative and humorous guide to Meditation.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics by Dan Harris and Jeff Warren. I chuckled at the Table of Contents and how accurate the section and chapter titles were when applied to human nature. Some of the headings are “I Don’t Have Time for This”, “If I Get Too Happy, I’ll Lose My Edge” and “People Might Think I’m Weird”. So great and opens up the path for humor in its pages. I was excited to discover the app that accompanies the instructional meditation given in this book. The commentary is full of humor and deals with thoughts that swirl through our minds as we try to relax and meditate. Short and easily doable meditations are introduced along with helpful, concise cheat sheets. I love the “RAIN”, “Walking Through Sound” and “Ten Good Breaths”! This quote captures the true essence of this practical and useful book, “Meditation is basically the end of boredom.” I was surprised and disturbed by the results of the study “Pandora’s Box” where people were left alone in a room with no stimulus, except a button that produced an electric shock. Many of the participants chose to give themselves electric shocks because of their discomfort of being quietly alone. Wonderfully informative instructional guide on meditation for anyone who wants to try but is skeptical of meditating, 5 stars!
*I received a complimentary copy of this book for voluntary review consideration.